FIFA president seeks consensus over World Cup plans

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he wanted to seek consensus over plans for a biennial World Cup and changes to the international match calendar after facing fierce criticism from Europ ean federations. FIFA's ruling council agreed to hold a global summit on Dec 20 to discuss the proposals for a World Cup to be held every two years rather than every four years.

However, Infantino did not commit to hold a binding vote on the plans - after UEFA president Aleksander Cefe rin warned against it, saying there would be "terrible consequences for football in general" if he pushed ahead. FIFA will now wait for the results of a feasibility study and also an economic analysis of the financial impact of the extra World Cup, which are expected to be delivered before the summit. A meeting between 'technical groups' of FIFA and UEFA is also scheduled for next week.

Ceferin has said UEFA would boycott an additional World Cup and his opposition to the plan has been echoed by European clubs and leagues. Infantino noted the debate had been "heated" but said that it was a sign of change within FIFA that such a wide-ranging consultation was being held.

The president of world football's governing body told a press conference that there were sharply different opinions on the idea stemming from different global regions. Infantino said he thought it was possible to reach a common position. He stressed that so far, FIFA had not asked countries whether or not they agreed with the proposals but had simply presented them to trigger discussion.

"I do believe we can reach a consensus because what I've said from the beginning is that we're going to change things only if we are completely convinced that it will be beneficial for everybody," said Infantino.